MMidterm 1 - Review Flashcards
Facts vs. Principals
Facts - Something known to be true.
Principals - Actionable things that cause something to happen
- Give more insight than facts
- Ex. Predators like lake trout link different parts of the lake by moving between them to forage.
Define Ecology in classic terms
The study of how organisms interacts with one another and their physical environment.
- How species interact
- What species eat
- How are the seeds distributed
- How harsh winds in the winter or disease affect the species
Define the modern take on Ecology
The study of the processes influencing the distribution and abundance of organisms.
- Where are species found and why
- Where are species not found and why
- How many of a species are found and why
- How and why does a number of individuals in a species change over time and why
Emergent Properties
A property that is not present in the levels component parts but emerge from these parts interactions and relationships.
- Arise from the interactions and relationships among the components at each level of biological organization
Succession
A community level change over long periods of time
- You could not understand succession by studying individual populations
- You must study the community
Holobiont
The assemblage of a host species living in or around it, which together form a discrete ecological unit through symbiosis
- Ex. Bear + microbiome = holobiont
Metapopulation
A collection of inter-related populations
- Not just population, not just community, but in-between
T or F: organisms and ecosystems are dynamic entities?
True
- Dynamic steady state
- Dynamic stability
Bathtub Model:
1. Inputs > Outputs = …
2. Outputs > Inputs = …
3. Inputs = Outputs = …
- Growth
- Decline
- Dynamic Equilibrium
How did the overfishing of cod cause an increase in seals?
- Increased fishing of cod caused an abundance of pelagic fish.
- Increased pelagic fish caused in increase of seals due to the abundant food source.
- Increased seals further depleted cod.
Ecology is a science - define science
Science is a process for understanding the world and can be thought as
- a collection of knowledge
- a process for the collection of knowledge
Modern ecology was born out of…
Natural history and taxonomy
Natural History
The scientific study of animals or plants, especially as concerned with observation rather than experiment, and presented in popular rather than academic form.
Taxonomy and traditional taxonomic characters:
The branch of science concerned with the classification of organisms
- Morphological characters
- Behavioural characters
- Ecological characters
- Geographic characters
Observation
The act of noting or perceiving a phenomenon or event using the senses or scientific instruments.
- Often formulated as patterns sometimes termed as phenomenon
Ecology focuses on developing mechanistic understanding - Define Mechanism
A system of casual interaction parts and processes that produce one or more effects or phenomena.
- Let us explain why
- Let us predict
How would you determine the distribution of a species. Use the common juniper as an example.
- Why is it found where it is found
- Why is not found where it is not found?
- Looking at climate
- Looking at soil type
- Looking at other plants or insects in the area
- human impact on the environment
- movement of seeds
- water distribution
- permafrost/seasonal weather
The Niche
The range of environmental conditions and resource use that allows a species to persist and reproduce
- The range of abiotic and biotic conditions that an organism can tolerate.
Ectoparasites
Consume the blood of the host.
T or F: Climate change is driving the redistribution of species across the globe?
True
Where on earth is life not found?
In the most extreme environments where essential biological molecules cannot exist.
- Most extreme temps or pH
Extremophiles
Organisms that are able to live in extreme conditions
Trade-offs
The compromises organisms make in allocating limited resources to different aspect of their biology, behavior or physiology, influencing their fitness and adaptation to specific environment condition.
- Giving up one thing in return for another
- A balancing of factors all of which are not attainable at the same time.
Ecozone
Refers to a relatively large area of the Earth’s surface with distinct environmental conditions.
Dependant on:
- Topography
- Soil
- Geological factors
- Disturbance events
- Human influences
Varying Factors in marine ecosystems (6)
- Temp
- Salinity
- Light
- Depth/pressure
- Substrate
- Waves
Varying factors in freshwater ecosystems (6)
- Temp
- Light
- Flow
- Depth
- Substrate
- pH
Varying factors in different soil layers (5)
- Temp
- Moisture
- pH
- aeration/ oxygen
- Particle types
Why do species have a niche?(3)
- Species are adapted to their environment
- Different environments have different conditions
- No organism can be adapted to all conditions due to trade-offs
How does homogenization effect environmental conditions? (3)
- Dominance by a small number of species
- disruption of trophic interactions and food webs
- The loss of rare and endemic species
Fundamental Niche
All possible dimensions in which a species can survive in principal
- shaped by ecological tolerance
- No biotic constraints
Realized Niche
Where species actually live/ survive
- Biotic constraints
- Shaped by interactions and biological constraints that reduce the set of conditions under which an organism can survive.
What are 5 reasons a species could be absent from an area
- Hasn’t arrived yet
- is dispersal limited
- selected against that habitat
- is excluded by predators or competitors
- Can not tolerate the abiotic conditions
Diffusion
The gradual spread or movement of a species or populations from one area to another over time.
- Natural expansion of a species
- Often driven by the dispersal of individuals from existing populations
Dispersal
The movement of individuals away from their original location to establish new populations in different areas
- Immigration and emigration
- Enables individuals or propagules to colonize and establish populations in new distant habitats
- Contributes to the spatial expansion of species
What are the 4 abilities to disperse?
- Active - Walking, flying, swimming
- Passive - Wind, water
- Animal mediated
- Human mediated
Dispersal Limitation
The constraint imposed on the colonization or distribution of a species due to the inability of individuals or propagules to reach suitable habitats
Habitat Selection
The process by which organisms, both animals and plants, choose and occupy specific habitats that sit their needs for survival growth, and reproduction.
- Occurs at different spatial scales
- Broad-scales choices of geographical regions
- Fine scale choices within a specific habitat types
What are the 2 types of habitat selections?
- Proximate Factors
- Ultimate Factors
Proximate Factors
- Immediate and direct influences
- Temp, humidity, food availability, presence of suitable nesting sites
- Associated with physiological and behavioural adaption
Ultimate Factors
- Long term influences
- Included factors like competition, predatation risk, and the need to find suitable mates
- Often associated with evolutionary processes
Ecological Tolerance
The ability of an organism to endure under certain environmental conditions
Niche Overlap
Multiple species share similar ecological requirements
- Potentially leading to competition
- Often influencing the realized niches of one or both of those species
- In response often there is resource partitioning
Resource Partitioning
The division of limited resources among co-existing species in a way that reduced competition.
Range
The places where individuals of a particular species can be found
Synonymous with Distribution and Geographic Range
Marginal Distribution
The geographical limits to the distribution of a species
Vagrancy
A phenomenon in ecology whereby an individual appears well outside its normal range
- an individual out of its range
Biogeographical Ranges
Regions that share species with the region but not other regions
Habitat vs. Niche
Habitat is a physical area
vs.
Niche is a set of conditions
Liebig’s Law of the Minimum
Rate of biological process is limited by that factor in least amount relative to the organisms requirements
- Growth is dictated not by total resources, but the scarcest resource
- when you add more of a limiting factor something else becomes limited
Limiting Factor
Any environmental or ecological factor that restricts the growth, distribution, or abundance of organism within that ecosystem
Shelford’s Law of Tolerance
The distribution of a species is often controlled by that environmental factor for which the organism has the narrowest range of tolerance.
- abiotic and biotic factors act simultaneously, but not every factor is limiting
- Some factors are more likely to be limiting
narrow range means more likely to be limiting
- Narrow range means more likely to be limited
What are the 2 complicating factors to an organism’s niche/range
- Tolerances are not fixed
- Organisms can influence the abiotic conditions in their environment
Acclimation
The reversible, relatively rapid physiological or behavioural adjustments made by an organism in response to changes in its environment
- change in optimum
- change in the range of tolerance
Niche Construction
The process through which organisms, particularly through their activities and behaviours, actively modify and shape their environment.
What are the 3 most important aspects of a species niche in determining its distribution
- limiting factors
- Environmental factor for which the organism has the narrowest range of tolerance
- Different factors often limited different parts of a species range
Range Shift
Occur when the geographical distribution of a species changes its location
- in response to changing environmental conditions
- most used to describe a change in location w/out change in area
Range Expansion
Refers to the process by which a species increases its geographical distribution usually bu moving into new areas where it was not previously found.
Response to:
- changing environmental conditions
- the removal of barriers
Range contraction
- Occurs when a species reduces its geographical distribution either by withdrawing from certain areas or through local extinction
Redistribution
The process of shifting or relocating the distribution of organisms, resources, or ecological components within a given area or habitat
What is the general format and common terms found in a Hypothesis
Format: Some pattern/phenomenon happens b/c of mechanism
- present tense
- general
- because
Describe a prediction
A statement of expected outcome of a test assuming the hypothesis is correct
- forecasting the outcome of an experiment or study
- based on hypothesis
- future tense
- will
Endemisms
The phenomenon where a species is native to and exclusively found in a single particular geographic region.
- opposite of cosmopolitan
5 Important characteristics of population distributions
- Geographic ranage
- Abundance
- Density
- Dispersion
- Dispersal
Dispersion
The partial arrangement of distribution pattern of individuals within a population across a given area or habitat
- Patterns may be clumped, regular, or random.
- not the same as dispersal or diffusion
What causes Clumped Dispersion
- Response to uneven distribution of resources
- Due to social behaviours, cooperative interactions, or mating
Patch
A localized and distinct area within an ecosystem that has a concentration of essential resources
Causes for uniform dispersion
- Individuals are evenly spaced throughout the population
- Associated with competition for limited resources
- Associated with territorial behaviours and antagonistic interactions
- Allelopathy
Allelopathy
A phenomenon where individual organisms release chemicals into the environment that influence the growth, germination, or development of other nearby organisms
- Allelochemicals
Causes for random dispersion
- no strong attraction or repulsion between individuals
- due to random dispersal methods
Abundance
The total number of individuals of a species within a defined area
Density
The number of individuals per unit area or volume
What are 3 ways to measure population size
- counting every individual
- Area based counts (estimation)
- Remote sensing (estimation)
Area Based Counts
- Quadrats, transects, point counts
- randomly selcts area
Remote Sensing
Fly your drone over area take a picture have software identify things
Mark-recapture (estimation)
- Capture a sample of individuals
- Apply a distinct identifier to each
- Release marked individuals
- Recapture another sample
- Recounting
- Record the number of marker and unmarked individuals
- Used mathematical formulas to estimate pop. size
r-Selected Species Characteristics
- high reproductive rates
- Fast growth rates
- Many offspring in a short period
- low parental care
- mature quickly
- short lifespan
What environments are r-selected species associated with?
- unpredictable
- abundant resources and low competition
- distributed and new habitats
- high dispersal and rapid colonization of habitats
K-selected species characteristics
- low reproductive rates
- efficient resource utilization
- high competitive ability
- slow growth rates
- fewer offspring
- high parental investment
K-selected species is associated with what environment?
- Stable and predictable environments
- mature and crowded ecosystems
- resource limited environments with intense competition
- maintaining a stable population size near the carrying capacity of their habitat
